Aside from the fact that a tax has never been a free-market solution, when have most Republicans agreed that climate change is due to man rather than nature? Despite steadily increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, due to both man and natural processes, such as degassing of the oceans, global average temperatures have not increased in the past 16 years. The dire predictions that the alarmists have made for the past 30 years have never materialized, and yet we are to believe that a carbon tax will solve a hypothetical problem.

Of course, President Barack Obama, who thinks that bigger government is the answer to all our problems, has boldly proclaimed: "If Congress won't act to protect future generations from global warming, I will."

Who will protect us and future generations from the much greater threat that Obama and the alarmists pose to our freedoms and well-being?

______________

NEWPORT BEACH, Angie Vazirian: Here we have a Republican idea that makes common sense – a revenue-neutral carbon solution supported by political advisers for both former Gov. Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush. Unfortunately, it is not being championed by any Republican in the House or Senate.

A revenue-neutral carbon tax is a much better idea than letting President Barack Obama push climate control without Republican input. Republicans used to listen to climate concerns and climate scientists. George W. Bush ran for office promising to treat CO2 as a pollutant under EPA control. He didn't follow through, perhaps because his vice president, Dick Cheney, had close ties to the oil industry and therefore nixed that idea. However, Bush wasn't afraid of the subject. Sen. John McCain was a leading advocate for climate change action when he ran for president. Now he, along with almost every other Republican member of Congress, is silent and allows climate-change deniers to speak for them.

This issue is destined to be one more stance that will lose the GOP votes in coming elections.

______________

TUSTIN, Margaret Henke, co-chair, O.C. Interfaith Coalition for the Environment: Kudos to Mark Reynolds. His column offers a very intelligent, balanced and reasonable solution to the crucial issue of lowering our carbon emissions. These are solutions we must take if we are going to prevent the droughts, floods, extreme weather events and other results of global climate change.

Supporting Sen. Barbara Boxer's bill, which would mandate a fee on greenhouse gas emissions from the biggest polluters, would be a good start. We need to push for a better future for our children and grandchildren than the one we are currently headed for.

Guns n' rhetoric

NEWPORT BEACH, Bonnie O'Neil: I am wary of government officials who use a disaster to promote their agenda. Rahm Emanuel, the president's former chief of staff, famously said: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

While the public remained shocked and horrified about the Sandy Hook School tragedy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her fellow gun control advocates quickly resurrected her previously defeated gun control bill. They use emotionally charged rhetoric in an attempt to manipulate and influence public opinion.

Our wise forefathers gave us the gift of our Second Amendment for a definite purpose. A nation which allows its citizens the right to own guns, all types of guns, is a nation that has enhanced the protection of honest citizens from criminals, and any other evil source, including a government turned tyrannical.

I do not own a gun, but I feel safer knowing that roughly 50 percent of responsible citizens do.

______________

LAGUNA HILLS, Deborah Hernandez: We almost had a prequel to the Sandy Hook massacre, just minutes south of Orange County. In 2010, at Kelly Elementary in Carlsbad, a gunman stormed onto campus and opened fire on the crowded school yard, shooting two 6-year-old girls. He used a revolver, possibly because it's not easy to come by a semiautomatic assault weapon in California.

He was taken down by three construction workers who happened to be nearby when it was time for him to reload his weapon. The two girls were shot in their extremities and survived their injuries. Can you imagine the carnage if he'd gone there with a more efficient killing machine, such as an AR-15? There were more than 200 children on the playground that day. They would have been easy targets.

How many Sandy Hook massacres have we narrowly missed? How many are awaiting us? We know now that guns, like the AR-15, have become the weapon of choice for those who would make their mark through high-volume, public mass murder.

It looks like a gun wasn't used in either case. There are more people murdered by other methods each year than by guns. There is an agenda on the gun issue.

Go, Mahony

ANAHEIM, Joseph W. Weeks: Letter-writer Bill Fischer made clear that he objects to Cardinal Roger Mahony's decision to attend the conclave to elect a new pope ["Status worship," Feb. 26].

Fischer argues that "many more [Catholics] will leave" the church or be disillusioned by Mahony's alleged "arrogance." Fischer has no proof of that.

Mahony has dedicated his entire life to service in the Catholic Church. His poor judgment in one situation doesn't make him any less a faithful Catholic. He was right to go to the conclave.

Sequester noise

WESTMINSTER, George A. Kuck: Lost in the loud noise of the administration's propaganda assault on the sequester, originally proposed by President Barack Obama, is a small, whispered fact.

Under the president's quantitative easing program, the Federal Reserve is printing $85 billion per month. Isn't it interesting that these two amounts – the proposed sequester cuts and the quantitative easing – are the same? One down and 11 to go to balance the budget?

A trove of Kipling poems

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Kenneth L. Zimmerman:American scholar Thomas Pinney, after vigorous searching in some obscure places, has discovered more than 50 lost poems by the late legendary British poet and author Rudyard Kipling. The never-before-seen works will be published next month.

This begs the question: What if Kipling, for whatever reason, hid these poems because he did not want them published? Should his wishes be disregarded?

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com.
Please provide your name, city and telephone number (telephone numbers will not be published).
Letters of about 200 words or videos of 30-seconds
each will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.